WORKSHOP: Constitutional Rights, Judicial Independence and the Transition to Democracy; November 13-16, 2014, -New York Law School

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This workshop will bring together a diverse international and interdisciplinary group of practitioners, scholars in both law and social science, and innovative law teachers with expertise in the processes of transition to democracy; globalization and law; the role of constitutional courts; law and social movements; legal pluralism and customary law; economic and social rights; and the impact of legal education on legal professions and law. Its broader impacts include fostering deeper connections between American and South African scholars, assisting South African lawyers and social scientists in protecting human rights, and building awareness in the United States both of the challenges South Africa faces and of the contributions to democratic and legal thinking that it is making. The workshop will be a sustained series of structured discussions around five core themes: judicial independence; the potential, limits and pitfalls of judicial intervention; culture, tradition, public resistance and elite pressure in the assertion of rights; public interest law; and socioeconomic rights and restitution. Papers will be submitted in advance and made available to other presenters on a workshop website, which will also serve as a resource for additional relevant readings and materials. Each theme will be introduced with a plenary session, followed by small-group meetings around particular issues bearing on that theme, and culminating in a report-back session. Summaries of each session's discussions will be posted on the workshop website. Panels will be designed to bring together socio-legal and legal scholars, legal educators, and practitioners. It will include participants who are from under-represented groups and who are early-career scholars and students.